"I understand, King of Belrik," Dylan nodded. "But it is not up to me. The Red Mist seniors will come here later today to talk about this. You can plead with them."

"For now, we would like you to take us to Lady Ruoin," Sofia said. "As soon as possible."

…

Shortly after, the group arrived at an underground hall where a giant nine-tailed fox was bound with magic items and chains.

Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea approached her as she slowly opened her eyes, tiredly.

But the moment she saw her children, her eyes lit up with joy. "M-My girls!"

"Mother!"

"We are here to take you with us!"

"Mother, we will travel together and eat very delicious food every day!"

"Master Ainen cooks awesome food!"

Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea were like little kids as they happily talked.

"Free her quickly," Dylan said, looking at the mage in charge.

Soon, Ruoin was freed, and the girls jumped on her, hugging her and smelling the familiar scent that had been with them ever since they could remember.

"Thank you," Ruoin said, looking at Ainen. "For taking care of them and keeping them safe. I'm glad you found them."

"No need to thank me," Ainen smiled. "I just did what I wanted to do. And how can anyone want to harm such cuties?"

"There are such people." Lady Ruoin glanced at the King and the others. "They wanted to enslave my babies and make them their weapons of destruction by torturing them and making them aggressive since birth. If I didn't have the means to send them away…"

She trembled at the thought of what would have happened to her babies.

"Everything is over now, and everyone is safe," Ainen grinned. "So let's go. The next quest is meeting with the father."

…

Lady Ruoin took on a human form as the group continued to travel. She had long white hair and wore a black robe with white flower patterns.

She traveled through the air with the others, talking to Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea as they exchanged stories.

Mistbound Magic Tower was still two thousand kilometers away, so the journey was going to be a bit long.

The Southern Mountain also existed past the Mistbound Magic Tower, three kilometers further away from there.

Ainen planned to become as strong as possible before reaching there because there was a war ongoing, and he wanted to be able to protect himself.

The first stop in the journey was 1,000 kilometers away. It was the intersection of great forces—Labyrinth City Javaxin. A place where elites and ambitious Adventurers gathered.

Only three Labyrinth Cities existed throughout the whole Risentide Continent. They were called Labyrinth Cities because each one was built around a permanent Labyrinth.

And soon, there would be a fourth Labyrinth City where Ainen cleared his first Labyrinth.

Permanent Labyrinths were a constant source of resources, so those who controlled them could rise to power faster.

Among the three existing Labyrinth Cities, the first was Labyrinth City Javaxin, which was controlled by multiple top Magic Towers—Mistbound Magic Tower, Blue Canopy Magic Tower, Thundercall Magic Tower, and Stardust Magic Tower. These four Magic Towers were the top ones, as they were headed by Emperor-rank powerhouses.

Second was Labyrinth City Goldendawn. This one was jointly owned by the Styxian Dynasty and the Sacred Aurelian Magic Tower. If Ainen had gone to the Aurelian Arcanum Academy as he initially planned, he would have been able to enter the Labyrinth there. Among the three permanent Labyrinths, that one was the strongest as it was a Tier-6 Labyrinth, meaning it also gave far better and higher-ranking resources. This was also the reason the Styxian Dynasty and the Sacred Aurelian Magic Tower were the strongest forces on the Risentide Continent in terms of high-ranking powerhouses.

Third was Labyrinth City Nightcape. The Labyrinth was Tier-2, and it existed in the northeast of the continent. This city was famous for attracting young heirs and aspiring Adventurers from all over the Risentide Continent, making it a hub of competition to decide new rising stars, as the Labyrinth Leaderboard provided the perfect scoring system.

Soon, the Tier-3 Labyrinth that Ainen cleared would become the next hub. Instead of moving directly from Labyrinth City Nightcape to Labyrinth City Javaxin, young Adventurers would go to the upcoming Labyrinth City Arcade, especially because this Labyrinth had duel formats, which would make it a hotspot for competitions.

The only problem was that it was a 30-day Activation Labyrinth. This meant two things. First, its floor bosses would refresh every thirty days. Second, the longer the activation day a Labyrinth had, the higher the difficulty inside, so this new Labyrinth was difficult than the other three permanent Labyrinths in terms of survivability, as the monsters and challenges inside were far stronger than what average Adept-rank Adventurers could handle.

Only people on the level of Prisha and Ainen could clear the Labyrinth completely, and those two were monsters compared to the so-called elites of Magic Towers like Dylan, Viena, and others.

But this Labyrinth would surely serve to make Adventurers stronger in all areas, as Hammer, Diana, Naresh, and all the others had massive improvements in skills and combat ability due to the hundreds of duels they fought against tough enemies, not to mention the Arcande Games that pushed Adventurers to refine and improve their skills to get higher scores.

However, one thing would never change—Ainen's name at 1st rank on the leaderboard.

…

"So, what is the rank of the Labyrinth in Javaxin City?" Ainen curiously asked.

"It's Lord-rank," Dylan said with a wry smile. "Still far away for us."

"Lord-rank…" Ainen muttered. His eyes glinted. "Alright, I'll reach Lord-rank as soon as possible, then enter that Labyrinth and emerge as the peak of Lord-rank."

"Well, your skills are already better than most Lord-rank—and even some King-rank—powerhouses," Lady Ruoin chuckled. "As long as you meet the requirements fast, which you can thanks to your class, you can get there."

Ainen smiled. "Yep. Then let's stop by a magic-rich area on the way. Is there any? The city is still three hundred kilometers away, and I want to reach the peak of Ascendant-rank before that."

"There is one place. But it has King-rank monsters as well, so the danger is high," Dylan said with a dry chuckle. "Don't think about going there."

"Are you talking about Bluedge Forest?" Lady Ruoin blinked and moved the flying ice platform on which everyone was sitting to the south. "That's the nearest from here if we go south."

"Wait, are you really going there, Lady Ruoin?" Sofia panicked. "It's really not a good idea. A King-rank monster can one-shot us. If it's a peak King-rank, we won't even know how we died."

"We'll be fine," Lady Ruoin said, looking at Ainen. "Right?"

Ainen grinned and nodded. "No worries. I have protection that no King-rank can breach. And we'll move cautiously. We don't need to enter territories of King-rank monsters."

"But…" Dylan still thought it was a bad idea.

"Don't worry, younglings." Lady Ruoin smiled. "I am about to break through to Lord-rank as well. That means I can temporarily unleash my Bloodline Power to call forth the strength of a higher rank. Ainen's food also gives powerful buffs, so I'll be even stronger."

"And most importantly…"

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